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About Books, Film, Music And Immortality With Barclay Powers
Summer, 2011, Ashland, OR – Golden Elixir Productions’ author and award-‐winning
director/producer Barclay Powers is interviewed by The Empty Vessel: The Journal of Daoist Philosophy and Practice (Summer 2011) about his multi-‐media project,
The Lost Secret of Immortality.
The Lost Secret of Immortality a conversation with Barclay Powers
The Lost Secret of Immortality is an award-‐winning film (Best Spiritual Documentary at the
New York International Film Festival, 2011) and is based on the book of the same title. The film and book link together the Golden Embryo of Daoist alchemy, the Reality Body of
Tantric Buddhism, the Philosopher’s Stone of the Western alchemical tradition, the Rainbow Body of Tibet and the Kundalini tradition of India. The film predicts that the future of science will be focused on these secrets of enlightenment.
We sat down with the author/filmmaker Barclay Powers recently to ask him a few questions
about his project. What is the goal for you with this multi-‐media project (which includes a book, a film, a
graphic novel and soundtrack album)? This project is intended to make the alchemical secret of enlightenment available to a world-‐
wide audience. I feel that once modern science understands the physiological basis of inner
illumination, the modern concept of human potential will radically expand. This paradigm shift represents the ultimate evolution of consciousness and completely restructures Darwinian theory, which unfortunately, does not include enlightenment.
I think that the most important idea here is that there is a divine spark of super-‐consciousness at the physical core of all human beings.
It looks to me like you have woven together many strands of mysticism from many
different cultures, all pointing towards the same goal. How did you get interested in such a project?
I have studied the concepts underlying Chinese inner alchemy for many years and have found
that it transmits a fundamental, perennial spiritual science that was also the original goal of Western science when it was called the Philosopher’s Stone, in the Hermetic tradition. Similarly, very few scholars have made the connection between the Reality Body of Buddhism and the Golden Flower of Daoist neidan practice. The book and film is the first attempt to explain the secret of inner illumination as a cross-‐cultural paradigm shift.
Of all spiritual/alchemical traditions Daoism has a clear, scientific methodology that has been successfully proven for thousands of years. I feel the concept of the three treasures (jing, qi, shen) is actually the lost secret of immortality.
It was also very exciting to work with The Empty Vessel and film the masters in the Wudang
mountains and Qinchengshan for the movie. Your film reminded me a bit of What the Bleep, in that it uses various kinds of
animation to present certain concepts like the Golden Embryo, the Rainbow Body and Emanation Bodies in a way that the viewer can get a visual sense of them. I think this is the first time that the neidan practices of Daoism have been presented so that people can visually understand the concept of things like embryonic enlightenment.
Thank you, we worked for years to refine the animation sequences so that they worked for a
Western audience. In addition to the film, we also have a book and a graphic novel that is being turned into a
music video to accompany the new soundtrack album which is in post-‐production right now. The idea with the graphic novel and the new music video is to reach the 18-‐25 year old
audience, who has never been exposed to a clear explanation of the complete evolution of consciousness – the goal of being human.
We intend to have musical events which will include a screening of the film at multiple locations world-‐wide to enable as many people as possible to experience a film that points them toward the ultimate inner truth and challenges both the scientific and religious establishments of our time.
Many people have studied taiji, qigong, yoga and meditation without understanding that the
alchemical firing process is the key to real inner illumination and ultimate self-‐discovery. I found the material on the Rainbow Body or what in Daoism is called “the dissolution
of the corpse” very interesting and not something you see very often. Yes, I find it fascinating that in many of these traditions the physical body is described as
“frozen light,” which has the potential to dissolve into its essence – pure energy – at the highest level of spiritual cultivation.
How will people get a chance to see this film?
The film is playing globally and will be opened in selected cities on an ongoing basis. For more information please visit our website at www.lostsecretofimmortality.com. The Lost Secret of Immortality by Barclay Powers Golden Elixir Productions Softcover, 206 pages $16.95 This interesting book, which is a companion piece to the movie of the same name, takes a look at the immortality or enlightenment practices in Western alchemy (The Philosopher's Stone), Tantric Tibetan (Six Yogas of Naropa, Three Bodies or Trikaya), Hinduism (Kundalini) and Daoist neidan practices (Three Treasures and the Golden Embryo). There are also sections on shamanism, quantum physics and Chinese sexual yoga.
The book starts out with some historical references to the Tibetan practice of the Rainbow Body, wherein, upon death, the practitioner's physical body disintegrates rapidly, shrinking down to a very small size or leaving just a few wisps of hair and fingernails. This is similar to the Daoist idea of "corpse liberation."
Equating the Philosopher's Stone, the Zen idea of Seeing Your Original Face (the one you had before you were born) and the Golden or Immortal Embryo this book is a great resource guide for anyone interested in the field of cross fertilization of spiritual paths and practices.
Indeed we do live in exciting and amazing times! In ancient times one had to go through strenuous and often dangerous travels to study with different teachers. Today we have so much information and inspiration at our fingertips with the Internet and books like this one. The most important thing, though, is to be able to really apply ourselves in both learning these practices and then using them in our on-‐going spiritual cultivation practice.
This book is a good guide to these ancient practices of the West and East which, including the ever-‐growing field of quantum physics, can be used to transform ourselves and our world. ### Contact: Nancy Hutchison Email: [email protected]